There's a few methods of guitar tuning, pick one that fits best for you.
Method 1. Tuning a Guitar with an Online Tuner
Each button on the tuner represents a guitar string from low to high. The lower is the widest string on your guitar called low E string, next strings accordingly are A, D, G, B and high E.
Click the first button from the left on the tuner and play open low E string. Now adjust the tuning machine that belongs to this string, by turning its peg up or down until the pitch is the same.
Eventually it should sound as in this audio
Next do the same thing with each following string A, D, G, B, high E, moving from button to button.
Note that if you have locking vibrato system on your guitar you can use fine tuners for more precision tuning.
Note that you can quickly return to this article and use the online guitar tuner anytime from the navbar.
Or buy inexpensive stand along guitar tuner for about 20$ in any music store.
Note that almost any guitar multi-effects processor has a built in chromatic tuner, if you own one, follow the manual, how to switch to the tuner mode.
Tuning a guitar with a chromatic tuner is very easy.
Once you plug an electric guitar into a device (or use built in microphone whenever you tune an acoustic guitar), pick the string and watch the tuner's indicator. It'll show you where the current pitch is, so you have a clear idea wherever up or down turn the string peg. Of course you can pick a string and while it rings make adjustments watching the pitch on the fly.
Method 3. Tuning a Guitar from String to String
This method is especially useful in a trip, when first two methods above are unreachable.
You'll only need any source of genuine note of low E to tune the rest of the strings up, one from each other. Here we'll use pre-recorded audio file Click here to download mp3 file.
Now you'll need to transfer the file to any mp3 player or cellphone. If your phone doesn't support mp3 but still plays midi files, Click here to download MIDI file instead.
Get your low E string in tune as we did in the Method 1 above, but for now checking with the audio file instead of the online tuner.
When the low E string is in tune, play it at the fifth fret and tune the nearby open A string to this pitch.
When the A string is in tune, also play it at the fifth fret and tune the next open D string to that pitch.
Repeat the same pattern for each of the next strings except the B string. For tuning the B string you'll need to play the G string at the forth fret instead of the fifth.
You can also use any other musical instrument that is in tune or tuning fork as a genuine source tone.
A few words about a tuning fork:
Turning fork is a small metal tool that when struck generates a sound, usually of the note of A.This sound has the same pitch as the note played at the fifth fret on the high E string. (not the open low E string, as with the audio file)
That's why tuning with a fork begins from the high E string towards the lower.
First play the high E string at the fifth fret and tune it to the pitch of the tuning fork sound.
Next tune the B string, playing it at the fifth fret and checking with the open high E string.
After that, tune the G string, playing it at the fourth fret and checking with the open B string.
Later, tune the rest of the strings by the same principle, playing each tuning string at the fifth fret and checking the pitch with already in tune previous open one, look the scheme above.
Always check your guitar's tuning before playing session, or anytime you hear that some string is out of tune.
Remember that playing a guitar out of tune can cause damaging effect on your ear for music.
Now adjust the tuning machine that belongs to this string, by turning its peg up or down until the pitch is the same.
Turning fork is a small metal tool that when struck generates a sound, usually of the note of A.This sound has the same pitch as the note played at the fifth fret on the high E string. (not the open low E string, as with the audio file)
